Melasma is a discoloration that is caused to the facial skin. This discoloration is a cosmetic concern that affects mostly women. It is not a life-threatening or dangerous skin condition. It is simply caused by excess sun exposure and the possible combination of hormonal changes in the body. It is commonly referred to as pregnancy mask. This mask is caused by the hormonal changes during pregnancy combined with exposure to the sun. [click to continue…]

A dark skin pigmentation that occurs mostly in woman who are expectant, Melasma appears in the form of patches on the face, mainly the cheeks and forehead. It is also referred to as a pregnancy mask. Pregnant women are generally prone to get Melasma because of the elevated or unstable hormone levels. Even so, older women may also get the skin disorder due to the aging process. Once facial skin loses its elasticity and regeneration of new cells is reduced, there is a tendency for dark coloring on parts of the face. Other causes of Melasma include overexposure to the sun, use of certain cosmetic products, stress, medication such as birth control pills, and food allergies.

Opportunely, there are home remedies that can be applied to treat Melasma. These treatments are natural and best to use because they utilize ingredients that are not harmful to the skin. Additionally, these remedies rejuvenate the skin thus it remains healthy, well hydrated and unclogged. They include;

Apple cider vinegar – This is great for cleansing the skin and washing out any oil residue. Natural vinegar can also be used with a proportionate amount of water. Because it is acetic acid, vinegar smoothes out the facial complexion and treats Melasma.

Lavender and tree tea oil – A mix of these oils applied at least four times a day will draw significant results within no time.

Lemon juice – This works effectively due to its acidic component. Apply the juice on your face. Results are quickly notable because affected skin peels off revealing new, healthy skin.

Drink enough water – Keeping the skin hydrated is a sure way of maintaining its health. Drink at least six glasses of water to dispose of toxins and retain skin elasticity.

Onion juice and apple cider vinegar mix – This can be applied in one of two ways; cut out onion slices, dip them in apple cider vinegar and then place them on areas that are affected with Melasma. Alternatively, mix apple cider vinegar with squeezed out onion juice and apply it on the face, twice daily.

Exercising – This is the best way to get rid of stress, which is one of the mentioned causes of Melasma. Half an hour of working out daily will ease the stress thus clearing off the unwanted pigmentation.

Observe a healthy diet – This includes eating foods that are high in minerals and vitamins. Fruits and vegetables that are high in antioxidants are also recommended. Excessive carbohydrates and sugars should be avoided.

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Melasma is a skin disease where by the skin changes color to either tan or black. This skin disorder mostly affects women but also in rare cases affect men. Pregnant women or women who take regular contraceptives tend to get the disease often.

Melasma is also caused by over exposure to the sun. It can also be hereditary in nature. Most of the time it will disappear naturally and there is no need for any kind of treatment. It poses no health risk and therefore there is no cause for alarm. Though treatment for Melasma is unnecessary, you may want to use herbal medicine to cure it mostly for cosmetic reasons.

One way of treating is through use of yogurt. Yogurt contains lactic acid which works pretty well in treating the skin disorder. The acidity in yogurt burns the hard part of the skin and softens it. The moisture content in yogurt softens the bumpy patches.

Vinegar is also a good source for treatment of Melasma. It’s herbal and natural. Use it as a cleaning agent after diluting with water. Do not use it without diluting because the strong acidity in it may cause further skin damage.

Melasma may also be treated using onions. Blend the onions together with juice extract from apple cider vinegar, apply the mixture on the affected skin and leave it for approximately 30 minutes until it moisturizes the area. Rinse it off with clean water and see the results. You may also want to use this procedure when your skin is clean for best results.

One other herbal medicine for treatment of Melasma is through use of lemon. Rub lemon juice on the affected area. The acidity in the lemon juice will burn the spots caused by Melasma. After a while the patches will peel off and allow for new and better skin to grow on the same place.

Finally you can also use lemon mixed with cucumber and apply it as a mask. You can apply this every night before you go to bed and then rinse it off the following morning. Apply the concoction on a routine basis for a week and you will see a clear difference in your skin.

Herbal treatment for Melasma are many, all you have to do is have patience as it may take a while for your natural skin to be back. Always be sure to consult a dermatologist should the symptoms persist or you are unsure of the correct herbal medicine to use.

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Melasma is strongly linked with old age. It is a skin condition of the elderly; though some younger ones had been discovered to also end up with the skin condition. The immunity of the body decreases with age. This makes the skin more susceptible to the UV ray from the sun. The UV ray is able to penetrate into the skin and cause mutation melanocytes. The mutated melanocytes will not be able to produce enough melanin to cover the skin. The little it is able to produce will only be able to spread over the skin in patches and this leads to what is called melasma.

No link with cancer

This skin condition had rarely been linked with cancer at any time. Though there are unconfirmed possibilities of cancer ensuing from it, but none of the reported cases of melasma had ever led to cancer. You may decide to leave the skin condition untreated and you can be sure that it will not have any negative health effect on you. But melasma can actually make the face look very ugly. For cosmetics reasons, you may decide to get rid of the skin condition from your face and you can be sure of getting your normal skin color back. There are some very basic home remedies that you can apply to the skin condition when it comes up on your face or any other parts of your body. You can also be sure of complete healing under few days of consistent treatment.

Apple cidar vinegar

This is long standing treatment method for melasma on the face. It had never been known to lead to any negative side effect. It can help you get rid of the skin condition after few days of consistent treatment. It involves the application of the solution directly on the skin condition. Apple cidar vinegar has bleaching effect on the melasma and it will get the skin condition bleached off. You can get the apple cidar vinegar to buy all over the place. It is never advisable to use only vinegar for this purpose. Vinegar has burning effect on the skin. Using it to treat the skin condition alone will only lead to further damage of the skin. It is in your best interest to mix the vinegar with apple cidar before use.

Topical creams

There are some specially made topical creams that can help in removing the melasma from your face. It is not expensive to come by topical creams. They usually contain bleaching agents. One of the most commonly used bleaching agents is hydroquinone. Hydroquinone in the topical cream should not be too much so that it does not lead to some negative effect on the face or any other part of the body.

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Melasma is usually associated with the sun. It usually comes up on the skin if the skin is exposed to the sun excessively; especially as one grows older. The younger generation too can have melasma. But as one grows older, it becomes more common. The immune system of an old person is already compromised. Because of this, the sun is able to penetrate more into the skin and cause some genetic modification of the melanocytes, which are the cells that produce melanin. Melanin is responsible for producing the skin color. Once the cells are mutated this way, melasma is sure to ensue. It is however very easy to get rid of the skin condition from your skin. There are so many creams that had been made to help get things done. You can actually come by them over the counter.

How it looks like

Melasma usually appears as accumulated keratin on the skin. The keratin accumulates due to the complication mentioned above. It usually makes the skin look rather creepy. The skin will look dry and crusted. It is however not associated with any pain whatsoever. The skin condition usually takes the same color as the color of the skin on which it is growing.

Various forms of melasma creams

Many manufactures are making the creams today. Different topical creams contain different active ingredients. Some of the active ingredients may be very helpful on your skin, while some other ones may end up having negative effect on you. It will be wise to carry your dermatologist along before you attempt to make use of any of the creams to treat your melasma. The dermatologist will be able to determine which of the topical creams will not have adverse effect on your skin.

Many of the topical creams contain hydroquinone as the active ingredient. Hydroquinone will help to bleach the me6lasma and give you your normal skin color back. The hydroquinone must not be too much anyway; so that further damage will not occur on your skin while treating the skin condition. The content of hydroquinone in any safe topical cream must not be more than about 4%.

Conclusion

You can simply get the topical creams over the counter. You do not need any prescription to get them. This is also a very cheap method to get rid of melasma from your skin. You can also make use of sunscreen to prevent the skin condition from coming up again on your skin.

Recent Melasma Articles:

Melasma can’t be said to be an uncommon skin condition. It had been around for quite a while and since its presence till now, lots of researches had been conducted into how to get rid of it. In 2012, some new discoveries had been made into how to get the skin condition treated. In case you are having the skin condition, you should not have any problem on how to get it treated. This write up will open your eyes to some of the most recent treatment methods for melasma in 2012. They had been tried with great results. You to can rely on them to help you get rid of this skin condition.

Its appearance

Melasma comes up in the form of discoloration on the skin. The skin condition usually affects the face. It had been discovered that the skin condition comes up more on women. Melasma does not in anyway have any negative impact on your health. You can decide to leave it on the skin without the fear of the thing leading to skin cancer or any such thing. The skin condition is caused by consistent exposure of the skin to the sun. Aside the sun, some hormonal changes can also lead to it. Some people do refer to the skin condition as pregnancy mask due to the fact that it can come up during pregnancy.

How to treat it

In most cases, you may not need to treat the skin condition. This is because it can disappear on its own some months after delivery. You can leave it alone and it should be gone from your skin within 12 months after you must have delivered the baby.

But in case you do not have the patience to wait for 12 whole months for the melasma to go away, you can apply topical creams to remove the skin condition. There are some newly developed topical creams that can be very helpful in ridding your skin of the melasma. You can walk into any of the drug stores out there to get yours. You can also obtain them without doctor’s prescriptions.

Conclusion

After treatment of the melasma, you need to prevent the thing from coming up on your skin again. This is best done by applying sunscreen to the skin. This will help to prevent the sun from having direct contact with your skin and prevent the possible development of melasma.

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Melasma is a skin condition that is so undesirable. By consequent, there is need to prevent it whenever it occurs. This is a condition that affects people within the age bracket of forty years. The good news is that there are so many creams that can help treat melasma. With the high demand for melasma creams, quite a number of dealers have flooded such creams on the market. However, all these creams are not safe for use. This is ascribed to the existence of dealers whose main goal is to mint money at the expense of people’s health. They do this by supplying non-recommended chemicals that are more dangerous when used on the skin.

This calls upon any person looking for a melasma treatment cream to embrace vigilance when purchasing any cream .It is important to deal with the known cream dealers. How do I ascertain the right dealers of creams? This is a question that one needs to answer before deciding to purchase any cream. There are so many ways of ascertaining the good dealers. Here are the best ones.

Using the net for research is quite helpful. Many cream sellers have established websites and are selling their products online. Therefore, it is upon the interested person to visit such websites and compare the prices and quality of their creams. Apart from that, one has to read through the reviews and comments made about their creams. By so doing, he or she is granted a chance to know the reputation of the company. In the long run, one improves chances of getting the best cream for melasma treatment.

Consulting friends or associates is another very pivotal mode of looking for the best cream. One has to simply talk to people who have had an experience with such creams. By so doing, he or she will benefit in the following ways. One is that he or she will know the best companies that sell these products. Secondly, he or she will know the companies to be shunned while looking for melasma treatment creams. Thirdly, consultation enables one to know the minor things that help to control melasama. Lastly, one is granted a chance to know the commonly made mistakes while trying to control melasma. As a result, he or she is able to avoid such mistakes.

In conclusion, avoid chemicals that may cause more harm than good to your body.

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Many women are affected by melasma when they are pregnant. This is characterized by formation of dark spots on certain parts of the body. The areas affected are mostly the areola/nipple area. A dark line referred to as ‘linea nigra’ might also form on the midline of the stomach. The medical term for hyper pigmentation associated with pregnancy is Melasma, commonly known as the ‘pregnancy mask.’ More than half of pregnant women are affected by this condition. The main cause of pregnancy mask is fluctuation of progesterone and estrogen hormones. Melasma is a fairly harmless condition and can be left untreated. There are other causes of melasma such as using contraception pills and thyroid diseases. Melasma is not only prevalent in women but more than 90% of the cases affect women.

Hyperpigmentation in melasma cases mostly occurs at the center of the face especially the forehead. The condition occurs on the cheeks and jawline in rare cases. The pigmentation associated with melasma is usually deeper than other forms of hyperpigmentation. The melanocytes produced as a result of melasma usually have a very high concentration of melanin (pigment). They are also known to have connecting bridges that are higher than normal melanocyte cells. This increases the cells’ ability to transfer pigment to surrounding cells.

Melasma usually disappears without medical intervention within a period of between 6 and 12 months after delivery. During this period, it is important to use sunblock lotion to prevent further production of pigment. This is because ultraviolet light causes the skin to produce melanocytes, which are the type of cell responsible for producing pigment. Melasma treatment is usually involves preventive measures such as using sunblock. Other methods of reducing exposure to the sun such as using hats and umbrellas are also recommended.

From a medical perspective, a consultation with a physician is recommended when a person has melasma. A treatment plan can be developed that involves the use of anti-inflammatory agents, notably topical steroids. These help to minimize inflammation that is associated with melasma and it also reduces skin irritation. The skin should also be kept clean and use of skin care products that cause irritation should be stopped.

Some remedies that have been known to deal with pregnancy mask include: lactic acid, azeleic acid, Vitamin C, steroids, and retinoids. These are usually used in combination therapy but might sometimes produce too much irritation for the patient. Use of hydroquinone treatments has also been said to provide relief but no clinical trials have proven it yet.

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Melasma is a disorder that causes discomfort and anxiety. People who are more affected are women. The body of a woman has certain hormones that affects the production of melanin which when exposed to sunlight can lead to the development of Melasma. Melasma is not common in men though they too can develop Melasma.

Women have estrogen and progesterone hormones in their bodies. Sometimes there can be hormonal imbalance in the body. Hormonal imbalance can be caused by various reasons causing to excess estrogen and progesterone in the body. Excess of this will lead excessive to production of melanin which if exposed to sunlight can develop to Melasma.

As it known prevention is better than cure, it is important that one protect the skin from exposure to sunlight to avoid development of Melasma. One can use sunscreen creams to protect the body. These creams should be applied all day even when one is indoor.

How do I know it is Melasma?

Melasma can be identified by various signs that it presents on the skin. If your skin has dark irregularly demarcated hyper pigmentation, this could be a sign of Melasma. This hyper pigmentation can appear on the face, upper lip, forehead, nose and upper cheek. These areas are more exposed to sunlight and that is why they are at a higher risk to develop Melasma. Any other part of the body can also develop Melasma. A dermatologist can be consulted to confirm if it is Melasma or not.

A clear face without spots is everyone’s concern. Melasma can cause cosmetic problems by the discoloration caused by the dark hyper pigmentation. This causes discomfort and depression to people affected.

Melasma is known to be common also in patients who are suffering from thyroid disease. Patients with thyroid disease can have excessive production of melanocyte, a hormone that stimulates the production of melanin.

Women use contraceptives such as oral contraceptives and hormonal replacement therapy which causes hormonal imbalances in their body. Hormonal imbalance can cause excessive production melanin which leads to the development of Melasma when exposed to sunlight.

Pregnant women can also develop Melasma because during pregnancy the body undergoes changes causing hormonal imbalance. Melasma developed during pregnancy usually disappears after giving birth.

Melasma is treatable by use of various treatment options available. One can treat using chemical peel, treatment through laser treatment and use of bleaching creams to lighten the skin.

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While everyone can basically be affected by melasma, the best candidates of this type of pigmentation of the skin are the pregnant women. The most common characterization of melasma include dark rashes on the forehead, nose, cheeks, lips, and upper arms. The color of the rashes usually range from dark brown to gray. For many [...]

Melasma problem is common in women as compared to male. Women bodies have hormones that activate the production of melanin. Melasma problem occurs as a result of too much exposure to the sunlight. It develops on the upper lip, cheeks, forehead and the lower lip. It can be described by dark hyper pigmentation on the [...]